Editing Telecommunications in India (section)

===Mobile telephony===
{{See also|List of telecom companies in India}}
[[File:MumbaiIndiaiPhoneCellphoneShots2011-3.jpg|thumb|right|Typical signboards of STD booths (kiosks from where [[Subscriber trunk dialling|STD]] calls can be made) and internet kiosks in India]]
On July 31, 1995, then Chief Minister of West Bengal, [[Jyoti Basu]] made the first mobile phone call in India using Nokia handset, inaugurating Modi Telstra's MobileNet service from Writers' Building to then Union Telecom Minister Sukhram<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Kolkata-connects-India-to-4G-era/articleshow/12617655.cms | title=Kolkata connects India to 4G era | date=11 April 2012 | access-date=1 July 2013 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103073810/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-11/kolkata/31324556_1_4g-3g-telecom-equipment | archive-date=3 January 2013 | url-status=live | work=[[The Times of India]] | df=dmy-all }}</ref> at Sanchar Bhaban of New Delhi.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-31 |title=25 Years Ago, the First Mobile Phone Call Was Made in India, Costing Over Rs 8/Minute |url=https://www.news18.com/news/tech/25-years-ago-the-first-mobile-phone-call-was-made-in-india-costing-over-rs-8minute-2746665.html |access-date=2022-09-21 |website=News18 |language=en |archive-date=21 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921090131/https://www.news18.com/news/tech/25-years-ago-the-first-mobile-phone-call-was-made-in-india-costing-over-rs-8minute-2746665.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Sixteen years later 4G services were launched in Kolkata in 2012.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Airtel-launches-4G-in-Kolkata/articleshow/12617622.cms | title=4G launched in Kolkota | agency=Times of India | access-date=18 June 2012 | work=The Times of India | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609103849/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Airtel-launches-4G-in-Kolkata/articleshow/12617622.cms | archive-date=9 June 2012 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

With a subscriber base of more than 1151.8 million (31 Oct 2020),<ref name="TraidataO"/> the mobile telecommunications system in India is the second-largest in the world and it was thrown open to private players in the 1990s. GSM was comfortably maintaining its position as the dominant mobile technology with 80% of the mobile subscriber market, but CDMA seemed to have stabilised its market share at 20% for the time being.

The country is divided into multiple zones, called circles (roughly along state boundaries). Government and several private players run local and long-distance telephone services. Competition, especially after entry of Reliance Jio, has caused prices to drop across India, which are already one of the cheapest in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/story/14483.html |title=The death of STD |work=The Indian Express |date=12 October 2006 |access-date=1 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224214226/http://www.indianexpress.com/story/14483.html |archive-date=24 February 2008 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The rates are supposed to go down further with new measures to be taken by the Information Ministry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/apr/26broad.htm |title=Free broadband, rent-free landlines likely: Maran |work=Rediff.com |date=31 December 2004 |access-date=1 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110326031548/http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/apr/26broad.htm |archive-date=26 March 2011 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In September 2004, the number of mobile phone connections crossed the number of fixed-line connections and presently dwarfs the wireline segment substantially. The mobile subscriber base has grown from 5 million subscribers in 2001 to over 1,179.32 million subscribers as of July 2018. India primarily follows the [[GSM]] mobile system, in the 900&nbsp;MHz band. Recent operators also operate in the 1800&nbsp;MHz band. The dominant players are [[Vodafone Idea|Vi]], [[Bharti Airtel|Airtel]], [[Jio]], and [[Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited|BSNL]]/[[Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited|MTNL]]. International [[Roaming]] agreements exist between most operators and many foreign carriers. The government allowed [[Mobile number portability]] (MNP) which enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.oneindia.in/2011/01/20/mobile-number-portability-switch-tele-operator-aid0101.html|title=Mobile number portability: Switch tele operator!|work=oneindia.in|date=20 January 2011|access-date=22 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130093646/http://news.oneindia.in/2011/01/20/mobile-number-portability-switch-tele-operator-aid0101.html|archive-date=30 January 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2014, [[Thiruvananthapuram]] became the first city in India to cross the mobile penetration milestone of 100 mobile connections per 100 people. In 2015 three more cities from [[Kerala]], [[Kollam]], [[Kochi]] and [[Kottayam]] crossed the 100 mark. In 2017 many other major cities in the country like [[Chennai]], [[Mysore]], [[Mangalore]], [[Bangalore]], [[Hyderabad]], etc. also crossed the milestone. Currently [[Thiruvananthapuram]] tops the Indian cities with a mobile penetration of 168.4 followed by [[Kollam]] 143.2 and [[Kochi]] 141.7.